Amish Say Animal ID System Goes Against the Bible

c. 2007 Religion News Service BLANCHARD, Mich. _ Amish farmers complain that the state Department of Agriculture is insisting they tag their cattle with electronic chips in violation of their religious beliefs. State agriculture officials say the radio frequency chips are necessary to track animal diseases and protect public health. But the Amish farmers say […]

c. 2007 Religion News Service

BLANCHARD, Mich. _ Amish farmers complain that the state Department of Agriculture is insisting they tag their cattle with electronic chips in violation of their religious beliefs.

State agriculture officials say the radio frequency chips are necessary to track animal diseases and protect public health. But the Amish farmers say the chips’ 15-digit number is the Mark of the Beast warned of in the Bible’s book of Revelation.


“We’re a people who are inclined to mind our own business,” said Glen Mast, sitting in the wood shop he operates without electricity on his Isabella County farm.

“We’re never happier than when we’re just left alone,” Mast said. “That’s all we’re asking.”

Mast cited the Book of Revelation, which says the beast forced everyone “to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark.”

“They’re asking me to use this number to be allowed to buy and sell,” he said. “To me, the beast is the computer.”

All over Michigan, Amish farmers are resisting the state program requiring that all cattle be tagged with the electronic chips before they can be sold. Some say they will quit farming if it comes to it. Some say they will leave the state.

“They keep saying that, and that’s their choice,” said Kevin Kirk, who coordinates the program for the state agriculture department. “Our No. 1 goal is animal health, human health and food safety. I know it’s hard sometimes to trust the government, but that’s what we’re asking, is trust us.”

Michigan’s program, which began March 1, is part of a National Animal Identification System created after the outbreaks of mad cow disease and foot-and-mouth disease in Europe and hastened by fears of terrorist attacks on the United States’ food supply.


The national program, administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is voluntary. Michigan is one of the few states making it mandatory because of a 1998 tuberculosis outbreak among cattle.

Under the program, each farm is issued a seven-digit identification number entered in a national database. All cattle must have the electronic ear tags, which cost $2 each, before they can be moved off the farm. Scanners at livestock auctions and slaughter houses automatically read the ear tags, tracking each animal’s movements.

While the program covers only cattle, it might be expanded to all farm animals, Kirk said. Most Michigan cattle already are marked with metal ear tags embossed with numbers, allowing health officials to track them, but Kirk said the computerized system is much faster.

“If we have a disease outbreak, we don’t have months to track it,” he said.

Amish farmers, he said, produced a “very, very small” percentage of the nearly 397 million pounds of beef sold by Michigan farmers last year. Not all Amish raise cattle, but those who do typically have herds of eight or 10 animals.

But the Amish aren’t the only farmers opposing the new system. Several organizations representing small farmers are fighting it nationally, claiming it is costly, bureaucratic and intrusive. Gale Faling, who is not Amish but raises beef cattle in the midst of a Amish community in Montcalm County, said the old system was working fine.


“I don’t see the need to change it,” he said. “To me, it’s another layer of government interference.”

A neighbor, Amish farmer Alvin Shetler, agreed. “We’re not against the government,” he said. “We’re thankful for the freedom we got, and we’d like to continue with that.”

So far, the state has not forced the Amish to use the electronic tags but, as a compromise, said they can wait until the animals arrive at an auction before having them applied.

(Pat Shellenbarger is a staff writer for the Grand Rapids (Mich) Press.)

KRE/CM END SHELLENBARGER

A version of this story is being transmitted by Newhouse News ServicePhotos of Amish farms in Michigan are available via https://religionnews.com

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